ARMY DEVELOPMENTAL ASSESSMENT CENTER: A DEMONSTRATION FOR THE NOMINATIVE COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR POSITION

The 38th Chief of Staff (CSA) GEN Odierno directed the Center for Army Leadership (CAL) to provide a one-time demonstration of a developmental assessment center for strategic non-commissioned officer (NCO) positions, specifically the nominative command sergeant major (CSM) role. This tasking was prompted by findings from the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act and CSA Way Point 2 (Adaptive Army Leaders for a Complex World, CSA Strategic Priorities, JAN 14), which recommended expanding developmental assessment events to increase leader awareness of current leadership skills and abilities as measured against future leader position requirements. The outcome was a nominative CSM Leader Development Assessment Center (LDAC) that provided a rigorous and purposeful process to assess the skills of senior NCO leaders and accelerate their development for success at the strategic leader level. This report outlines the development, execution, and lessons learned LDAC as well as other potential applications within the U.S. Army.